An Unintentional Concept
by Gaara's Plaything
Summary: Gaara and Sakura have a drunken one night stand, and he marks her as his mate. Can he convince her that this is a good thing, even though it was unintentional? Rated M for lemons.
1. Once Bitten

**Hey there! Here's yet another GaaSaku story for you to enjoy! I wasn't going to put this up, but I got a chapter done, and I couldn't resist it. I'm just so weak when it comes to Gaara and Sakura!**

**Warning lemon!**

**Naruto and all the characters associated don't belong to me.**

_**An Unintentional Concept**_

**Chapter One – Once Bitten...**

So much had happened with Sakura during her eighteen years of life in this world, both in the personal and the professional aspects of it. Her bond with her friends was as strong as ever, and even though she'd had an extremely disastrous first crush, she'd managed to come out of it with a smile and the determination to never again get that hooked on a guy that didn't care for her at all. She'd had a few boyfriends, though none of them had been serious enough for her to really commit herself to anything more than some rather intense make-out sessions.

Once she attained jounin status, about six months after the mission to rescue the Gaara from the Akatsuki, she had then stepped up her medical training. Tsunade had agreed to intensify their training sessions with much more difficult jutsu's that were both medical and ninja related. Now she was as good as, if not better than, her mentor, something that her shishou now wanted to show off by sending her off to Suna to teach the medics there everything she had learned.

While Suna's medical system was quite competent, they were sorely lacking in the more difficult jutsu's and techniques, things that Tsunade had offered in her position as fifth Hokage. Since Tsunade herself could not take the necessary time out to go and teach them, this was where Sakura came in. As the now former apprentice of the legendary sannin and fifth Hokage, she had her own reputation as a medic, and also as a kunoichi to be reckoned with.

Sakura's being in Suna to help would definitely be a benefit for the alliance between the two villages, and as her shishou had said with a wink and a smirk, "You never know when we might need a favour!" _Favour my ass!_ Sakura had snorted to herself. That wasn't the only reason she'd offered this. It was, as mentioned before, just be another way for the older woman to show off, something she loved to do almost as much as gambling and drinking!

And now Sakura was here in Suna, teaching the medics every single medical related jutsu that she knew and they didn't.

It had been about four months since she'd arrived, and she'd fit in quite nicely. Temari had been the one to greet her when she'd arrived, and had stayed by her side until after meeting up with Gaara to get her schedule. When the issue of where Sakura would stay while she was there came up, Temari had immediately insisted that she stay with them at their place, an offer that Gaara had immediately insisted upon, since she was apparently considered one of their 'friends from leaf', as he put it. So she'd moved in with the Sand siblings.

And that was where everything had started. Any free time that Sakura had was monopolised by Temari, who, it was painfully obvious, was thrilled to finally not be the only girl in the house. Her loud declarations of having to 'put up' with her brothers often made Sakura smile, or giggle, depending on the situation. Pretty soon, the two of them became as close as best friends.

Then Temari's birthday came around, and everything changed from that point on.

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"Hey!" Temari's yelled, moving through the crowd of people. "Come on, Sakura, aren't you going to have a drink? It's free, cuz it's my birthday, y'see! I'm _twenty-one!_ That's a big deal, ya know!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Sakura waved at her. "That's what you said about Kankurou's twentieth! You just want any excuse to party!"

Temari poked her tongue out at her, then dragged her off to the bar to ply her with a huge variety of alcohol, which she insisted that they both had to try at least one shot of. And naturally, a little over an hour later, the two of them were giggling and singing off-key (even though Sakura _could_ hold a tune, just never when she was drunk for some reason). They were also attracting a lot of attention from others that were at the party. Already eight guys had hit on Sakura, but only three had tried it on Temari. (This was probably because she was punching the guys who tried, and that girl had a wicked left hook!)

After awhile, (and the two of them were pretty drunk by then) Temari's brothers turned up and joined the party. The puppet-master eagerly joined in the festivities, but Gaara seemed to prefer to be by himself, though he did have a few drinks. In any case, both brothers were soon inebriated as well, though at different ratios and with completely different results. Kankurou was roaring with laughter at something one of the female guests was saying, and even in her intoxicated state, Sakura realised that he was probably going to take one of those girls home tonight.

Gaara was slowly loosening up as well, and had even been dragged out of his little 'corner' by Temari, who'd then pushed him onto the dance floor. He'd glared at her, of course, but hadn't gone back to his seat. He hadn't stayed on the dance floor either, though. Instead he'd wandered over to the bar for another drink.

Sakura giggled at the sight of a completely drunk Gaara downing even more alcohol, and he must have realised that she was laughing at him, because he turned around and glared at her.

"What's so funny?" he demanded with a slight slur to his words.

She shrugged. "I have no idea, but it's hilarious anyway!" She burst into another fit of giggles until she was distracted by Temari who'd come up beside her and insisted on dragging her off to dance, to the delight of her multiple admirers.

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Gaara watched with a scowl as Temari dragged Sakura away. He had been about to ask her to dance, but that stupid sister of his just _had_ to pull her away before he could! Shukaku growled in his head at the missed opportunity, and demanded that Gaara do something about it. So he did. Pushing away from the bar, the tanuki container rather unsteadily made his way on to the dance floor and over to where Sakura and his sister were dancing with a group of males.

Gaara's protective instincts for his sister, as well as the ones Shukaku was inexplicably imposing on him for Sakura had him glaring at the men, who immediately backed away, leaving a thoroughly disappointed pinkette pouting at their departure. At least, she was disappointed until she saw him.

"Gaara!" she yelled and threw herself at him, hugging him quite tightly. "Are you going to dance with me?"

"Sure," he told her, the alcohol slurring his words a little. He felt Shukaku roll his eyes at him.

'_Dancing with a gorgeous girl while you're drunk,' _it commented. _'I am sooo gonna have fun tormenting you with this when you're sober!'_

Gaara thrust the demon's thoughts to the back of his head, determined to ignore the stupid thing and have some fun for a change. He gyrated against Sakura as the beat of the music got deeper, and she responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing herself against him. He leaned into her, breathing in her scent from her hair and her neck, going a little crazy as his hormones started going into overdrive, the effect enhanced by the alcohol he'd consumed.

Her lips met his in a passionate kiss and all thought fled from his brain as her tongue teased his and they warred for dominance in the kiss. Her hands came up to thread through his hair even as his roved downwards to cup her bottom. Gaara growled into their kiss as his actions caused them to brush against each other. His senses were overwhelmed by her and all he could think about was being as close to her as physically possible.

The need for oxygen parted them, and then they were dancing once again, swaying to the beat as their bodies collided over and over. A heightened sense of awareness washed over Gaara as he inhaled the scent of the female before him. She was intoxicating, more so than the alcohol had been, and he wanted nothing more than to whisk her away and have his way with her delicious body.

'_Do it,'_ Shukaku urged him, and he relented to the tanuki's desires, pulling the pink haired beauty to him and transporting them to his room at home. She took a moment to notice that their surroundings had changed, but it didn't seem to bother her, especially with the way she immediately responded to his sudden and frantic kisses.

Sakura seemed almost desperate as well as she began pulling at his clothing, and he responded in kind, yanking her little top off over her head and pushing her towards his bed. As soon as they were naked he shoved her on to the bed, following her down. As their bodies pressed against one another, Gaara heard her moan, and he lost what little control he had over his actions.

Moving down her body, he trailed a path of kisses along her that had her moaning and whimpering his name. When he reached her apex, he pushed her thighs further apart, inhaling deeply, allowing the scent of her arousal to take him over completely. At urgings from his demon, Gaara dipped his tongue into her soft folds, earning a startled cry and arching of her back from Sakura.

Gaara placed his hand firmly on Sakura's hips, keeping her firmly in place as he continued to lap at her, licking up her juices even as they spilled out. Then, she orgasmed, and he licked her clean before moving up to loom over her. Looking down at her, he nearly came undone from the satisfied look on her face. He positioned himself at her entrance and pushed.

A choked cry of pain escaped from Sakura's lips as he broke her thin barrier, and Shukaku suddenly started whispering in his head. _'She's untouched!' _he hissed, seeming to enjoy this as much as his host. _'Mark her! Then she'll be ours and no one else's!'_

The thought of Sakura belonging only to him made him lose any control he might have had before, and he began moving inside of her, thrusting in and out at a furious pace. Carefully he licked her neck where it met her shoulder, then bit deeply, drawing blood as both his and Shukaku's chakra mixed into the wound, sealing it permanently. She was his now, and this knowledge had him slamming into her harder and harder until he felt her walls clamp around him as she released, and he followed a moment later, spilling his seed deep within her womb.

Exhausted, Gaara collapsed on top of his mate, resting there a moment before pulling out and rolling off of her, gathering her close to him and allowing himself to relax, falling into a light sleep even as he sensed her do the same.

**Yes, Gaara sleeps. Shukaku's still in him, but he's weakened enough for him to sleep. Review please!**


	2. Good Morning Sunshine

**Second chapter done! Wow, I got way more reviews for the first chapter of this than I did for the first chapters of my other GaaSaku fics!**

**When I started writing this (months ago) this was actually going to be the first chapter. But then I decided to put in the 'night in question' and made this the second chapter instead! Enjoy! Oh, and lemon ahead.**

**Naruto and related characters do not belong to me.**

**Chapter Two – Good Morning Sunshine**

She wasn't sure what it was exactly that woke her, but whatever it was had been gradual, seemingly not in a rush to rouse her. Whatever it was, it was warm, and Sakura snuggled closer, causing it to move slightly. Something wrapped around her, pulling her closer to it, and slowly she opened her eyes, coming face to face with a pair of black rimmed ones, albeit closed ones.

_Holy shit!_

Only a few centimetres away was Gaara's sleeping face. Slightly panicked, Sakura wondered how the hell she'd ended up in bed with him. Desperately she searched her memories, only to come up with a blank. She groaned. How much did she have to drink last night? _Note to self: stop drinking so much alcohol!_ She closed her eyes momentarily, trying to figure out a way out of this, but then she felt him stir.

_Oh, Kami, no! Don't wake up!_ she silently wailed, but to no avail. She'd really wanted to get out of here before he woke up, but slowly Gaara's eyes opened and their eyes met. He stared at her a moment with incomprehension in those intense jade eyes of his before they widened and he released his hold on her.

"What are you doing in my bed, Haruno?" he demanded in a dangerous voice.

"I don't know," she told him, slight panic in her own. "Honestly! The last thing I remember is being at your sister's party!"

He opened his mouth to speak, but something caught his attention and he froze with what looked like shock. Wondering what it was, she followed his line of sight, but couldn't see what he was staring at so intently. Almost tentatively, his fingers came up to the juncture between her neck and shoulder and he hesitantly touched it, causing the skin to twitch. It hurt slightly, for some reason, though it was only a small, tingling ache. A feeling of foreboding came over her as she realised the only thing that could be there, at least, the only thing that would catch his attention in such a way.

A bite mark. It was the only logical explanation. Sakura knew all about jinchuriki's, thanks to Naruto, and knew that when one bit a member of the opposite (or same) sex in the spot Gaara was now gently caressing, they were marking them as their mate. And there were no prizes for guessing what that meant! A look came into his eyes that made her realise that he was remembering, and without warning, he surged forward, nibbling and licking the wound on her neck.

Completely bowled over by shock, Sakura almost missed Gaara's mumbled, "I'm sorry," before she became awash with sensations as his attention's continued along her neck, over her chin and to her lips. When he kissed her it wasn't gentle, so full of passion and desire and determination that it overwhelmed her and she kissed him back, running her fingers through his hair as he ran his hands over her back. They remained locked together until the need for air pushed them apart and then they stared at each other.

Able to think again, she wondered what it would all mean, especially since they'd been drunk when it happened. Would it still hold the same importance even though it hadn't really been intentional?

"You know what this means?" he asked, running a finger over the mark, and she nodded.

"I know," she told him. "Naruto sat me down to tell me all about it a couple of years back."

"I'm sorry," he said again, and she smiled.

"It's alright," she told him. "It's not your fault. We were drunk."

"That's not what I meant."

Confusion was all over her face, and he sighed.

"It's irreversible," he told her, and she couldn't help the wince she knew had shown.

Gaara pulled her close to him and whispered, "I really am sorry."

Sakura shook her head and would have spoken, but he must have thought that she was rejecting his apology because he kissed her again, firmly, as if trying to convince her that it wasn't a bad thing. And this time he did more than that. His hands ran over her body, caressing her, and she moaned into his mouth as his fingers ran over her inner thighs. Instinctively she parted under his ministrations and cried out, pulling her mouth from his as he slid a finger into her. He pumped slowly, adding another, and then another, until she was writhing and gasping out his name.

He stopped before she could release, and she moaned in frustration. Slowly, agonisingly, he pulled his fingers out, one by one. Then he moved over her, sliding in effortlessly. Gasping some more, Sakura moved her hips with him as he thrust within her in a steady rhythm. Gaara nuzzled her neck where the bite mark was, licking it as he moved faster within her, driving them both towards the peak. He suddenly flipped them, so now Sakura was on top and she adjusted rather easily to this new angle.

With Gaara's hands guiding her, she moved up and down, sliding along his length. Moans and cries of ecstasy were torn from both of their lips as they moved together, until finally Gaara seemed to grow impatient and he flipped them back over, pounding into her ferociously. A tightening sensation was growing inside of her, and Sakura instinctively knew that she was close to her release. Sure enough, their apex was reached with one particularly deep thrust, and they both fell over that edge. They called each other's names out as it hit, then floated back down afterwards.

Exhausted, Sakura allowed her eyes to fall closed as she fell into a light doze.

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Gaara gazed down at his sleeping mate with a look of wonder. He didn't know why Shukaku had chosen her, but he was glad that he had. _'You see, kid?' _the tanuki told him smugly. _'I _can _make good decisions. I'm not just a pretty face!'_ Gaara just grunted slightly at the remark, content to let it pass this time.

Ever since the Akatsuki attack a little over four years ago, he'd been able to sleep due to the fact that Shukaku had been weakened. Why they hadn't gotten the whole demon, he didn't know. Maybe the others they'd attacked had been the same, there was no way to tell. He was the only one who'd survived, after all.

Thinking of his death always made him feel uneasy, and this time was no different. So instead, he focused on what he was going to do about Sakura. He couldn't be sure if she would really accept him, and he had to make sure that she did. They were mated now, no matter the circumstances of its inception, and she had to be made to understand that. Shukaku was, he knew, quite territorial, and that trait had rubbed off on Gaara over the years.

Sakura moaned and shifted slightly, immediately catching his attention. She really was beautiful. He'd noticed this long ago, when she'd been there after the Akatsuki attack. Her strength had improved, he'd noticed that when she's gotten angry at something that Naruto said and had stamped her foot, creating a rather large crater. He sighed and gently brushed stray strands of hair from his mate's face.

Temari was going to love this. Gaara almost winced imaging the squeals of delight he knew she would let out. And Kankurou would be glad, too, but at least he wouldn't be as shrill as Temari. He loved his sister, but she could be really annoying when she put her mind to it.

Sakura shifted again, and this time her eyes slowly opened, and when their eyes met, Gaara saw the uncertainty and hesitation reflected in those glorious emerald orbs of hers. Resisting the temptation to sigh, he instead wrapped his arms around Sakura, who stiffened slightly before relaxing into his embrace. He was going to have his work cut out for him on this.

'_Don't worry,' _Shukaku said, popping up in his head again. _'I'll be here to help! We'll have her agreeing with this in no time! And you never know, maybe she'll end up carrying our pup from this. That might help her stay!'_

Pup? The thought of Sakura pregnant with his child, whether now or at some point in the future, both terrified and thrilled Gaara at the same time.

"Gaara?"

Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts and all he could say was, "Hn?"

"I'm not so sure that this is a good idea."

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The instant the words were out of her mouth, she felt him stiffen, but she had to make him see the sense of it. They couldn't be together. After all, there were both of their villages to consider. Not to mention the fact that they didn't really know each other.

'_What are you so worried about?' _her inner suddenly demanded. _'You've always wanted a great guy to fall in love with you, and this could be your big chance! Go for it, you've got nothing to lose!'_

_Nothing? What about my heart? _Inner remained silent on that.

"What do you mean, not a good idea?" Gaara asked.

"I mean, we have to consider everything else," Sakura told him, and he frowned.

"What everything?" he demanded. "We are mated. Nothing can change that. There's nothing to consider. No one will object, if that's what's worrying you."

_No one will object?_ How could he possibly think that? What if _she_ wanted to object? Sakura opened her mouth to say so, but Gaara cut her off with his mouth, kissing her fiercely. Despite the fact that she melted against him instantly, Sakura was a little annoyed that he thought he could solve this with sex. Calling on tremendous willpower (because her senses were slowly being overwhelmed by the man currently straddling her), Sakura brought her hands up to his chest and pushed, forcing him back.

The look on Gaara's face was slightly hurt, and she had to resolutely push aside the twinge of guilt she felt at that. The last thing she wanted was to hurt him, but she had to make him see that this was wrong. Or at least, that he was going about it the wrong way.

"Gaara," she said, desperately trying to ignore the hand that was resting lightly on her inner thigh. "You have to think about this!"

The look he gave her was one that could melt a block of ice and he asked, "What's there to think about? We _are_ mates, and it _is_ a good thing."

He kissed her again, and this time she didn't have the strength to push him away. Instead, she allowed him to make love to her, and as her body moved with his, a part of her knew that she'd lost this battle.

But the war was far from over.

**Ok, so review please!**


	3. He Says, She Says

**Another chapter is done! Enjoy! No lemon in this one, though, but don't let that get you down!**

**Naruto is not mine.**

**Chapter Three – He Says, She Says**

Gaara sighed. Was having a mate supposed to be this difficult? Three days it had been since he'd marked her, and right now, Sakura was doing her best to ignore him. She was giving him the 'silent treatment', something he'd often wished Temari would do to him. Despite the fact that he had been proven right about his siblings and the elders accepting this, she was still denying the truth.

She was really concerned with her Hokage's reaction. But Gaara knew that Tsunade would accept this, and would probably give Sakura a lecture on how this was extremely beneficial to both of their villages. For both him and Shukaku to choose a kunoichi from Konoha as a mate was a big deal, made even more so by the fact that it was Sakura, former apprentice of the Fifth Hokage, one of the Legendary Sannin.

He sighed. It was really starting to get on his nerves, the way she was acting. If it didn't let up soon, he was going to go... er... crazy. Already he was a bit of a nervous wreck, since in addition to ignoring him, Sakura was sleeping in her own room again, and sealing her door with a jutsu. And yet despite that, Gaara could get in there if he wanted to. Even so, something inside of him (_not _Shukaku) was telling him to tread carefully.

The tanuki was demanding the opposite. He was screaming at his host to break down the door and _make _their mate see sense. But Gaara believed that that would just drive her further away. So he'd decided to wait, and even though it had only been a few days, he was in agony waiting for her acceptance of him.

Currently he was sitting in his office in the Kazekage building, trying to go through paperwork that he really needed to catch up on. It was difficult to concentrate, though, with a demon cursing in his head, along with the distracting thoughts of Sakura that kept popping up in his brain. _Is Shukaku doing that?_ he wondered.

'_Nope,' _the demon told him. _'That's your own overactive imagination. I gotta say, boy, your thoughts are rather creative, for a puny human.'_

He ignored the demon, who immediately went back to moaning about their mate.

Seriously, though, Gaara knew that if he didn't make some progress, _any _progress, with Sakura soon, he might just give in to Shukaku's urgings and press the matter more 'firmly.'

'_Do it any way!' _the demon urged, but Gaara ignored it and went back to being distracted from his paperwork.

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"Go away!"

She sighed. This was _sooo_ annoying! Temari kept bugging her to try and talk to her about the whole 'mate' thing, but Sakura wasn't in the mood for talk. She was really bummed when Temari and Kankurou reacted positively to the news that she was Gaara's mate, and their hyper-delight was _one_ of the reasons that she'd taken to barricading herself in her room when she wasn't at the hospital. Despite everything, she wasn't going to neglect her medic duties.

"Come on, Sakura!" Temari pleaded from the other side of the door. "You know, this isn't going to go away just because you want it to. Pretty soon you're gonna get Tsunade's reply, and she's going to say the exact same thing we have been!"

That was probably true, but Sakura preferred to live in denial at the moment. _'That's ridiculous!' _Inner Sakura scoffed. _'You know, you're getting on _my _nerves with all your lame excuses!'_

_They're not lame! _Sakura defended, though it was only half-hearted by now. _I have every right to refuse to go along with this!_

'_That's only true until our shishou says otherwise,' _Inner remarked, smirking at the thought of Tsunade's reply. _'Pretty soon, you're gonna end up back in Gaara's bed, so you might as well accept it now, while it's still _you're _choice!'_

That was such a good point that Sakura had absolutely nothing whatsoever to say in response.

Maybe Inner was right. She _knew _what Tsunade's reply would be, so it would most likely be best if she headed it off and maybe went to Gaara herself. That would require a huge swallowing of her pride, and she didn't know if she had the guts to pull it off. Her stubborn streak usually got in the way of important things that she was too pig-headed to see.

Like when Ino was telling her that Tenten was secretly in love with Lee. Or even a disastrous example of when she'd refused to give up on Sasuke, until that time he'd nearly killed her and Naruto, which was the last time they'd seen their wayward former team mate. That had been not long after the mission to get Gaara back from the Akatsuki.

"Come on, Sakura!" Temari yelled again, getting the rosette's attention once more.

Sighing, Sakura got up, walked to the door and yanked it open, staring straight at the mildly surprised kunoichi. She'd probably that she was going to have to break the door down to get to her, but that wasn't really necessary, honestly.

"I wish you wouldn't yell at my door," Sakura snapped a little more harshly than she'd intended. "And then the banging on it earlier?"

"That was Kankurou," Temari told her.

"Oh, right."

The two of them stood there a moment, an awkward silence hanging in the air. Then finally, Temari spoke again.

"So... you done sulking yet?"

She couldn't help it. There was absolutely no way to prevent it. Sakura burst out laughing at Temari's words, earning at first a reproachful glare and then a sly smirk as the other kunoichi joined in with her laughter.

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When Gaara arrived home from work that evening, it was to find Temari, Kankurou and Sakura sitting in the main living room, laughing their heads off. Sakura both sounded and looked relaxed, and he wondered what had happened to change her demeanour. Not that he was complaining. A happy Sakura was preferable to a cold and moody Sakura.

As he entered, the three of them looked up and then, with a glance and a nod to each other, Temari and Kankurou wordlessly got up and left the room. Actually, if the door that slammed a moment later was the one he thought it was, then his siblings had just 'left the building.'

Carefully Gaara came in to the room, sitting on the couch next to but a respectful distance from his mate, and for a moment, they stared at each other. _'Jump her, now!' _Shukaku hissed, but Gaara pushed the demon away, focusing instead on the woman in front of him.

"You want me to be your mate," she said, stating a fact and not asking a question.

"You _are _my mate," Gaara amended, and he distinctly saw Sakura's eye twitch ever so slightly. (He knew that Naruto was terrified of that very same twitch, no matter what 'setting' it was on.)

"You want me to be your mate," she repeated, only this time he could tell that she had more to say. "If you want me to agree, there's something I want from you."

What could she possibly want? Whatever it was, he'd do it. "What is it?"

Sakura took a deep breath, then said, "Convince me. And not just with sex. I want you to... woo me. Prove that you don't just want me because of Shukaku and all that 'instinct' stuff. If this is going to happen, I want you to want me for me, not because I'm your 'mate'."

Gaara was confused, and so was Shukaku, apparently. She wanted him to... woo her? As in romance? But he knew nothing about that sort of thing! He'd have to ask Kankurou, or... Temari. He nearly shuddered at the thought of either of his siblings talking to him about romance. He'd taken a long time to get over the 'sex talk' that Kankurou had given him when he was fourteen.

Sakura was staring at him expectantly, and he realised that she was waiting for an answer. "You want romance?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I'm aware that you don't have any experience with romantic stuff," she told him, "so I'm not expecting anything grand. I just want you to show me what you can do, even if you have to watch some romantic movies, or ask your brother and sister..."

Sakura's voice trailed off, and Gaara knew that she'd seen his shudder when she mentioned his siblings. She smiled, then leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"I'm going to go to bed now, Gaara," she told him, standing up. "Good-night."

She left the room, and he raised his hand to his cheek where she'd kissed him.

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Sakura left the seal off the door, wondering if Gaara would notice and come in. A part of her hoped that he would, and the rest of her wasn't sure at all. If he decided to come in, she might give in to him. Ok, now _more_ of her wanted him to come in to her room, and she was a little disappointed when he eventually ended up outside her door, he kept going after a moment's pause.

It seemed that he was respecting her wishes, and that elevated her opinion of this whole situation. In the end, just maybe, they might properly be together. If this kept up, maybe there was even a chance that she could fall for him. The physical side of that would be no problem, and they already got along well enough. Sakura smiled slightly at the memories that came up in her mind from early in her stay here, how Gaara was before all of this.

'_That's it, just keep thinking of our Gaara-kun!' _Inner urged. _'You know you want to fall for him, and if he proves that this really is what you want from this, then we'll have landed ourselves the best score since Anko hooked Kakashi-sensei!'_

Sakura rolled her eyes and smirked. Sighing once more, she rolled over in her bed and settled herself in for the night, closing her eyes and ignoring her Inner wishing her sweet dreams, adding a couple of comments on how it would be even sweeter if Gaara was in them.

**If it seemed that Sakura changed her mind a bit fast, just remember that she's had a few days to think about it. Anyway, this story is in the lead on the poll on my profile page as the most favourite fic of mine. That's not totally surprising to me, since this had well over thirty reviews for two chapters!**

**Hey, guys, you should read my story Changeling. It might not seem like much yet, but it's got this great plot that will be revealed in later chapters. I promise, it's a good plot!**

**Anyway, review please!**


	4. Romancing The Cherry Blossom

**Hey there! I finished this chapter just before I went to work and didn't have time to check it and post it. Now I can though, and I hope you like it!**

**Warning! Lemon ahead!**

**Naruto doesn't belong to me.**

**Chapter Four – Romancing The Cherry Blossom**

What the hell was he supposed to do? He knew nothing of romance! For the last seven hours, Gaara had been pacing back and forth in his room, unable to get any sleep. Sakura's demand... er, request... had his mind so preoccupied, he couldn't sleep! Shukaku was being no help, either. On his way to his room, he'd passed by Sakura's door and noticed that her blasted seal was down, and the stupid tanuki had been pestering him for hours to go in there and ravish their mate.

'_Come on, boy!' _the demon hissed. _'She didn't put that stupid barrier up! She _wants _you in there!'_

_It doesn't matter if she did it for that reason! _Gaara snapped. _She told me what she wanted, and I'm going to respect her decision!_

'_But she didn't say _anything_ about not going in there to fuck her senseless!' _Shukaku argued. _'Come on! You know she's just waiting for you to go in there and-'_

_I said NO!_

Gaara sighed as Shukaku hissed at him and went silent for a moment. It may be true that Sakura had left the seal off for him, but if she hadn't, and he went barging in there, it could cause her to go back on her decision, and there was no way that he was going to risk that, not for anything! So, he waited, prowling around his room and trying to clear his thoughts.

Romance. If there was only one thing he had yet to understand about human interaction, it was romance. How the hell did guys come up with ideas on how to 'woo' a girl they wanted? The question continued to bother him until well after the sun had risen in the sky. As soon as he heard the sounds of the other occupants of the house rousing, he left his room and made his way downstairs to start breakfast before Temari could get a chance to ruin it.

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Sakura woke slowly from her dream. It was such a good dream, and she didn't want to leave, but reality called to her, so she reluctantly opened her eyes.

'_I _knew _you'd dream of Gaara-kun!' _Inner cheered sleepily.

_I dreamt of Gaara? _Sakura asked, a little surprised and happy at the same time.

'_Yup!' _Inner informed her. _'It was sooo sweet and gooey, but at he was a damn good kisser in it, too! But not as good as in real life. _No _dream is _that _good!'_

Sakura sighed. So he was invading her dreams now? Despite everything, she smiled slightly. Maybe this was a sign. Ignoring her Inner's extremely rude comment on that thought, she stood up and headed for her bathroom to get ready for today. When would Gaara try romance? She had no idea what he would do, since she knew that he had no real idea on _what _to do.

Once she was done, she made her way downstairs to find that only Gaara was in the kitchen. The table was set up rather nicely and there was food on it that immediately started to make her stomach grumble, but the resident food vacuum, Kankurou, was nowhere to be seen. What was going on here? Gaara answered this silent question.

"Temari and Kankurou have gone out for breakfast," he told her. "It's just us."

Just them? The fact that he'd managed to kick his siblings out of the house without their having had breakfast struck a chord in her, and Sakura smiled at him. Maybe he did know something, even if it was basic. While she knew that he probably wouldn't do the whole 'on bended knee' or the embarrassing romantic gestures that made girls swoon (her included), anything he tried was definitely going to be a point for him.

Sitting down, Sakura eagerly dug into the food, which was delicious, and when she was done, noticed that Gaara was looking at her with an ever so slightly expectant look on his face. She smiled.

"It was delicious," she told him, and she could swear that she actually saw him relax.

Sakura stood up and moved to take her plate into the kitchen, but Gaara beat her to it and used his sand to clear the table. A little startled, she watched as he had everything put away in a blink of an eye. She looked at him, eyebrow raised, and he smirked. Her own lips twitched in response and she smiled at him.

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Sakura was breath-taking when she smiled. Gaara almost came undone at the look on her face, the way she looked at him. This woman whom he'd come to desire so much, to... care for so much, when she smiled like that...

He was getting distracted. While he had no real plan for the day, he'd figured while he was cooking that doing nice things for her and taking her to places that he liked was enough. He refused to do all that stuff where the guy makes a fool out of himself for some woman. He was Sabaku no Gaara, no one _ever _made a fool out of him! Shukaku growled in absolute agreement. Pushing the dark thoughts aside (though they could be darker, but he wanted today to go smoothly), he moved forward and held his hand out to Sakura.

She stared at his proffered hand curiously, her eyes flying to his, searching for an answer. "Come with me," he said. "We're going out."

"Where?" she asked.

"Wherever you want to go."

Sakura smiled again, and his insides melted. "Let's go," she said, taking his hand.

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What was he going to do? For the last four hours, he and Sakura had been wandering rather aimlessly around Suna, yet she seemed to like it. Gaara was confused. He was sure that she'd drag him into doing some shopping, but she hadn't. Didn't women love shopping? Temari did, but he already knew that Sakura was _way _different from his sister, a fact he was extremely glad of.

Now it was nearing lunch and he was hungry. But where would they eat? Maybe somewhere secluded, so they could be alone? A sudden rumble in his mind meant that Shukaku liked that idea _very _much.

'_It's perfect!' _he hissed. _'Get her alone, and then jump her!'_

_That would be counter-productive, _Gaara snapped, and the demon glared at him, but shut the hell up.

"Gaara?" Sakura said, bringing him out of his musings. "I'm hungry. Would you like to get something to eat now?"

Nodding briefly, Gaara had a sudden epiphany about where they could have lunch. He led her to a food stall that sold his favourite food and was pleased by the interested look on her face when she noticed the menu. She looked at him strangely when he ordered the food take-out, and when he had it in his hands, pulled her close to him.

"Gaara! What...?"

He didn't answer her, just used his sand to teleport them to one of his favourite spots in the city, on top of the Kazekage building. You could see all of Suna from this spot, and he'd often come up here to think, and to get away from the demands of being Kazekage. Sakura gasped, and he turned to see her staring at the view.

"This is a magnificent spot!" she breathed. "You can see the whole city from here!"

"This is where I usually come to get away from people," he told her. "The design of the building makes it difficult for people to reach this spot."

"But you have your sand," she noted with a smile, and he nodded.

As they ate, he noticed her gaze kept shifting from him to the view, and sometimes to her food. She was impressed, he could tell, and he was glad. Hopefully this meant he was doing a good job with the romance. Once they were finished, Sakura moved closer to him, leaning against him. A little surprised by this, Gaara simply sat there, snaking one arm around her as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"This really is a beautiful place," she murmured, and he had a feeling she wasn't just talking about the view.

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The rest of the day passed as before and when the sun went down, they were sitting side by side once again, this time on the roof of his home. Sakura smiled. Today had been really nice. She knew that Gaara had tried, and she was impressed, even though she'd realised that what he'd done was simply spend time with her and do the tings that he liked, it was enough for her.

She sighed, then had to stifle a yawn. It was well into the night, and after dinner, they'd sat in the main living room with Temari and Kankurou, who'd arrived just in time for the food. The two kunoichi had exchanged looks, and Sakura knew that the older woman had understood that the day had been a success. A weird look had been in Temari's eye, but Sakura had ignored it.

Deciding that it was time for bed, the pink haired kunoichi stood up, attracting people's attention. "I'm going to bed," she told them, and they nodded.

Walking along the hall to her room, she slowed her pace, then came to a stop. There was something she wanted, and getting it would mean accepting total defeat. But she was fine with that now. Gaara had shown her that there was more to this mating thing than just sex, and as long as he never forgot that fact, she figured things would be fine. Smiling to herself, she walked past her door and instead went into Gaara's room.

It wasn't long before he joined her, and when he did, he hesitated only briefly before moving to her, pressing her down into his bed. His kiss was deep, desperate, and Sakura responded with equal desperation. He immediately began tugging at her clothes, and she did the same, yanking at his shirt until it came off over his head. As soon as they were both naked, hands began to re-explore their bodies, and soon they were ready.

As Gaara slid into her, Sakura felt that there was nothing in the entire world that could ever compare to this. Moving in unison with her mate, her acceptance of this situation was undeniable to her, mind and body. There was still one issue that niggled at the edge of her consciousness, but she pushed it aside for the moment, preferring to concentrate on the man whose thrusts were now pushing her over the edge and into oblivion.

Back in the living room, Temari smiled. Pulling out the envelope she had concealed in a pocket, she opened it and read the contents again. Tsunade _definitely _approved.

**Ok, so as long as I do it all right, there should five chapters left. Review please!**


	5. So So Sorry!

_**Author's note/apology:**_

_Okay, so I realised that there's really nowhere else to go with this story, so I'm ending it here. I damned well wrote myself into a corner with that last chapter, and now I can't move it forward! I'm gonna keep trying though, but in the meantime, this story is going to stay in the 'complete' section. If I figure out where else I can take it, then I'll get back to it. __If I don't then at least it ends in a way that is kind of okay, at least, I think it does. So for the moment, it can stay on complete._

_I really have to get to work on my other stories, though, since I've been neglecting them lately (started playing with my Legend of Zelda games, forgetting how 'into' them I can get. Heh heh!) Anyway, at least it isn't totally left hanging, and I can feel alright about leaving it where it is._

_So, sorry to all those who were expecting more, and I really promise that I'll try to get back to it, especially since everybody loves it so much!_


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